The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Whither Melb PC - A Discussion Paper Charles Wright

I must say at the outset that my outlook is not entirely gloomy. There are many heartening signs, and I believe that a substantial number of committee members are receptive to new ideas. The timing of this paper is designed to raise general awareness among the members, and allow them to express their ideas and opinions long before the next Annual General Meeting. I hope it will give the present committee (including myself), plenty of time to do something to arrest any trend towards moribundity. In my view, the first priority is to establish and to a certain extent anticipate the needs of members and spend some of the $100,000 reserves that John Beck alludes to in his Pres Said column, fulfilling them. The purpose of this paper is not to accuse or blame. This group has received long years of voluntary service from many of the members of its committee, and I do not doubt their dedication or good will. It is not then a question of drive, but simply a question of direction.

Objectives 

I would like our members to know what plans the committee has to implement the objectives of our group as stated in our rules (Rule 2):

Taking each objective in turn, I believe that (1) and the first part of (3) are being met by PC Update and our irregular training courses, although there is still room for improvement; (2) and the first part of (5) are being partially met by the monthly meetings; (6) is met by our recent membership in the international Association of PC User Groups and our ongoing interchange of magazines with other similar groups. We have conducted many activities that fall into (7). However, I have seen no evidence of (4) in the two years that I have been a member, and some of the above objectives are only partially met. 

The bulletin board should fulfil objectives (3) and (5) but it is not doing so because it has not been properly equipped and maintained. The monthly meeting addresses only 10 per cent of our members, so 90 per cent miss out on objectives (2) and (5). The exchange of views with the computer industry appears to be one-sided. We receive a great deal of promotional verbiage from vendors and manufacturers, and we offer a forum for those who would seek to sell to or influence our members, but we have not provided a voice for PC users, and we have singularly failed to stimulate any thoughtful, dispassionate debate on what the industry ought to do to fulfil the needs of consumers. It is vital that we do so. 

The Computer Industry 

The computer industry is not going to knock on our door unless we make ourselves known to them, and instruct them in the advantages of having an informed and intelligent user base. Ash Nallawalla has often complained about the fact that his letters to more than 70 Australian companies went unanswered. Most of them are simply unaware of our existence. At our own cost, we have allowed the computer industry to overlook the presence of the largest user group in Australia. The Boston Computer Society, of which I am also a member, is acknowledged and respected by the US computer industry. It receives samples of many products, both computers and software, that members can examine. Companies regularly donate software and hardware and in many other ways underwrite the society, because it makes good s business sense to do so. Members of the Boston Computer Society enjoy a level of service that our group manifestly fails to approach. We can do better, and we can begin to do better by being more a aggressive in informing the Australian computer industry of the advantages of similar cooperation with our group. 
[Ed: I would love some computer company to donate a few top-end machines to us, starting with better replacements for the two Wyse 80386s] 

Main Meetings 

The advantages of being more visible are many and obvious. It would be much easier to find stimulating speakers for our monthly meetings. Our committee actually gave up the opportunity for our members to meet Peter Norton on 25 January because they objected to the fact that we were given only about two weeks' notice to print to re and mail invitations at our cost. While we may have enhanced our on dignity, it was scarcely in the interests of our members to do so. When, I wonder, will Peter Norton again be available to us? I agree that we must carefully weigh up financial considerations, but we must put the members' interests first. And the fact is that if we were more visible, companies would be prepared to underwrite these expenses. What was also overlooked was that we could have reached a third of our members in, simply by using the bulletin board to make the announcement. Which the brings us to the subject of the bulletin board. 

Bulletin Board 

Hardly anyone seems to use the board these days. It has a few regulars, but some have not logged on in months, so perhaps the BBS  is not such a good place to post important announcements. I suspect that we lost a large number of members due to the BBS for one reason or another. We dropped the upload/download ratio but we also transferred an 80 MB drive to PC Update, so there is less room for whatever members wanted, and which they now have to get elsewhere. Clearly, we have a problem, and the committee should take urgent steps to address it. The recent history of our BBS has not been one of the greatest moments in the annals of resource management. Other problems are outside our control, such as the loss of certain "echomail" message areas because of a split in the international PC-based BBS network community. We have the financial resources to set up the best BBS in Australia, so why don't we? Why can't we buy a 300 MB hard disk, a Trailblazer modem, etc? The Brisbane group - which has a much smaller membership base (about a third of ours) and much more limited funds - is a leader in this field - they dial the US direct, and get the latest software and BBS echomail. We seem to run our BBS passively, choosing to take what comes down the line free of cost from Sydney. I accept that the BBS would also need to be relocated to the home of the system operator (sysop), so that it can be restarted when it falls over. The sysop would also need to have the ability, time and interest to run such a system, which is easier said than done. 

I agree wholeheartedly with Ash that we should run the BBS under Unix, which gives us tens of dialin ports with no special effort. We could have as many lines as our budget permitted, and Unix would also give us access to the Usenet newsgroups, which are often reproduced in PC Update. Usenet has a better sanity level than prevails on the PC echomail system. Best of all, the running costs of participation are nil, the sysop has relatively less work to do and, if it is any indication, the UK IBM PC User Group has taken this path, providing multiple 9600 bps dial-in lines. They charge a premium for members who wish to use their BBS, so that non-users are not subsidising this service. 

I must repeat that this is a discussion paper, not a criticism of the present sysops. I hope that people with experience in this area will come forth and give us their comments.

The Public Domain Library 

I feel that our public domain (PD) library needs to compete with other external suppliers. We may have dropped the price of a second or subsequent disk by 50 per cent, but we are not competitive enough. We recently spent about $500 to buy PC-SIG library disks from the Brisbane group, who have bought a CD-ROM player and a PC-SIG CD-ROM. They charge $4 per disk, post paid. Surely we can justify buying our own CD-ROM player? Our committee seems to be fixated on selling public domain disks, or indeed any other activity that will raise revenue, and less motivated by the provision of services. Indeed I sometimes have the feeling that some committee members regard the membership as an inconvenient financial burden, rather than the only reason for our existence. In a recent letter forwarded to committee members, one of our officers seriously suggested that we ought not spend money to attract new members, because we spend all the membership fees servicing them, and in the case of students, end up in the red. Certainly he went on to suggest that the committee's time would be better spent improving monthly meetings and other services, but there seemed to me to be a clear inference that members actually cost us money, and we would be better off without quite so many of us. 

I view that as a significant failure of imagination. If the committee has any real management flair at all, a larger membership base cannot fail to improve the strength of the group and the quality of service. The committee is here to provide the maximum service for our members, to increase the club's strength and use it to advance the interests of members.

Committee Meetings 

The membership is equally out of touch with its committee members. Many US PC groups publish the monthly committee meeting minutes in their newsletters. We should do the same immediately, so that members can see what is being done in-and one sincerely hopes not against their interests.

Membership 

We need more involvement by members, because the group is simply not just the magazine, or the BBS, public domain library etc - the group is its members. I am not talking about helping the committee or the magazine, but members should become more active towards their own ends. As an example, you could set yourself a goal of learning a new aspect of computing, which would involve attending SIG meetings, attending the monthly meeting, using the BBS, ringing Dial Help volunteers, buying a book on that subject etc. This type of enthusiasm will be infectious, and we will all benefit from it. I think that if you are serious about computing as a hobby or as a profession, then you should buy a modem, or use the one that is lying idle on your desk. In the past I have gained a great deal more from the BBS than the monthly meeting. It is easier to get a reply from an international audience than asking a question during Random Access. (I also happen to live outside Melbourne.) If your excuse is that our BBS is not interesting enough, or that you can never get on, complain in writing to the President. If you simply give up and suffer in silence, then the committee will not know the extent of interest. Only a third of you own modems, so you will always be a "minority" and thus easy to ignore.

Our Own Building? 

Our President has long expressed a desire to raise enough funds to buy our own premises. That might sound like a good financial move, but I sorely doubt its wisdom. This is not a for-profit body. Our prime concern should be to service our members, not to service building loans. Whatever profits we make should be ploughed back into short-term benefits to our current members, rather than building for some indeterminate future. Who knows what will happen to PCs (of the IBM type) in a few years - remember the once-strong MicroBee and Sinclair clubs? The British Computer Society has already been down that path, having had to sell its London premises when membership declined. Remember that if our club is ever dissolved, the proceeds will go to another club with similar aims, not to the members. A larger office should be leased. And if we are serious about running courses, we are going to have to consider employing full-time staff. In my view it is a serious misjudging of priorities for an organisation dedicated to technical advances to have $100,000 in funds, and at the same time a woefully inadequate standard of technical equipment.

Funding 

If we need more funds than we have, then we must consider raising subscriptions. I don't believe that this is necessary, but we are a non-profit body, and every cent of expenditure must be justified, and an adequate reserve maintained.

Conclusion 

I have chosen the avenue of the magazine to promulgate this discussion paper rather than through the Committee because I believe my responsibility is primarily to the membership rather than to individual Committee members. Before this can be adequately addressed by the Committee we need to know your views. What do you, the members want? Have your say in the questionnaire that will reach you shortly.

Reprinted from the May 1990 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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